Can you feel it?
The turn of the tide. The great ascent. With their 5-1 win on Wednesday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Calgary Flames kicked a single win into a November push out of the basement.
Tonight, it’s the Chicago Blackhawks, who handed the Vancouver a decisive 5-2 win on Wednesday night on the back of a Tyler Bertuzzi hat trick.
Is a win assured? Absolutely not. Nothing in life is certain, but signs of an early season surge have been bubbling up for weeks.
From the Grave
Much like last October, it’s easy to identify rock bottom.
Their record is a measly 3-4-2 since the end of that trip, but their defence and offence both started coming into form.
Before & After – Utah/Vegas Trip
Before Oct. 19
Games Played: 6
Goals For per Game: 1.67
Goals Against per Game: 4.17
After Oct. 19
Games Played: 9
Goals For per Game: 2.78
Goals Against per Game: 2.56
Now we’ve seen the team finally put two wins in a row together. The rest of October is an odd mix of good and bad teams.
Hold On
Perhaps we shouldn’t be using the terms “good” and “bad” for the 2025-26 season. A few interesting stats:
-Three points separate the bottom of the Eastern Conference from a Wildcard playoff position.
-The two teams at the bottom of the East, the Panthers and the Rangers, have a .500 points percentage.
-The West has more weak teams with five teams under a .500 points percentage.
-That includes Calgary, who is .333. They need a five-game winning streak to hit .500, but are only six points behind Edmonton for the final Western Conference Wildcard spot.
-A hot November easily vaults the group past the other sub-.500 teams. The exception there being the Blues, who are destined to sit on top of Calgary in the standings until some form of undisclosed curse is broken.
To steal a sentiment from head coach Ryan Huska, you can’t make the playoffs in October, but you can certainly miss them. Maybe the Calgary Flames have dug too big of a hole to get out of—but that’s what this era of Flames hockey is all about. We’ve seen the group hit a turning point and now we’re starting to see a strong on-ice product. We have 67 more games of underdog hockey.
Let’s have some fun seeing where this goes.
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, Cap Wages, and the National Hockey League. Standings and schedule courtesy of ESPN and the National Hockey League.
KEEP READING:
Calgary Flames Early Season Struggles: Kadri Trade Talk & Young Core Under Fire
Benched: Making Sense of the Matthew Coronato Situation
Between the Lines: Insiders Greenlight a Flames Rebuild
Analyzing the Calgary Flames Early Season Stumble
Five Former Flames Head Coaches: Where are they now?
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